Napolitano mulls Italy government as he takes oath

ROME (AP) — President Giorgio Napolitano headed Monday into his unprecedented second term with the daunting task of trying to find a candidate who can form a government two months after national elections left Italy with no clear winner and an increasingly discredited political class.

The 87-year-old Napolitano was taking his oath of office later in the day and also addressing the nation, presumably about the need to bring recession-mired Italy out of its political paralysis and the euro-zone's third-largest economy back on the path of financial reforms and growth.

He was re-elected Saturday after politicians failed to find a new presidential candidate who could win a majority of Parliament and regional voters. The divisive process resulted in the implosion of the center-left Democratic Party, whose leader resigned. It also galvanized the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which has campaigned on sending Italy's entire political class packing.

"We can now celebrate the unblocking of the situation," said Edoardo Luini, a market analyst at Trading Room Roma. "It is not the best solution, but it was the only possible one — or at least the most convenient."

Analysts suggested Napolitano's hand is stronger now than when he first asked Democratic leader Pier Luigi Bersani to try to form a government. That initial overture came after Bersani's forces won control the Chamber of Deputies, but not the Senate, in Feb. 24-25 elections. Bersani failed, leading to the current stalemate.

With a new seven-year mandate, Napolitano can dissolve Parliament and call new elections, something he couldn't do in the final months of his first term. It's a threat that could help him as he sounds out political parties to try to find a viable premier who can form a government and win a mandatory Parlimentary vote of confidence.

"The election of Napolitano is good news," said Unicredit analyst Luca Cazzulani in a statement. Napolitano has the skills and standing to mediate, he said, and his election "makes the timely formation of a new government more likely."

Bersani's center-left, however, is in shambles after its members failed to rally behind Bersani's initial choices for president. Eventually, they closed ranks to re-elect Napolitano, along with the center-right People of Freedom party of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi. The 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo denounced Napolitano's election as a "coup." Grillo's populist movement won 25 percent of the February vote, giving voice to Italians fed up with Italy's political class.